The discovery of oracle bones
The oracle bone below was discovered in China over 100 years ago. At first, nobody knew what they were.
Later, historians realised the words inscribed on them were questions and they were able to work out who wrote them and when.
Oracle bones like this one are about 3500 years old.
They proved the existence of the Shang dynasty.
Most of the bones were discovered in the Shang city of Yinxu, near modern-day Anyang.
Watch: Oracle bones
Narrator: One of the most exciting objects or artefacts we have from the Shang Dynasty are oracle bones. They are animal bones covered in ancient writing and were used to try to predict the future.
The King would call on a priest to help him talk to the gods.
King: The crops are dry, is the rain coming today?
Narrator: The priest would carve the question, ‘Will it rain today?’ into the oracle bone.
He would then heat it with a hot poker until it cracked. The priest would then try to interpret the cracks in the oracle bone and tell the king what he thought the gods were saying.
Priest: The gods say the rain will come today.
Narrator: We don’t know how often the priests got it right. Oracle bones are a primary source which means they are from the time of the Shang Dynasty.
Today, by knowing what questions the priests asked the gods, we can understand a lot about people’s lives and what was important to them.
How were they made?
- Oracle bones are made from ox bone and turtle shell.
- They were scraped and smoothed to make them easy to write on. Holes were drilled into the bone.
The Shang kings and priests (the diviners) would ask questions to the gods. These might be about the weather, the future of the dynasty or military victory. These would be carved onto the bone or shell using a sharp tool.
A hot metal rod was applied until the bone or shell cracked. The diviners would interpret the cracks and write the answer on the bone or shell.
What can they tell us about the Shang dynasty?
The writing on the oracle bones is the first form of Chinese writing. It uses around 5,000 characters.
The bones tell us about the Shang dynasty rulers, the weather, warfare, agriculture, births and deaths. They even tell us what was causing a royal toothache!
Most of the oracle bones date to the last nine kings of the Shang dynasty.
Activities
Activity 1: Shang writing
Activity 2: Oracle bones quiz
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